Theater brings business to downtown

November 4, 2009|By Beth Kassab, Sentinel Columnist

Today the Orlando Film Festival opens at the Plaza Cinema CafM-i with free movies for the next five days.

It's just the kind of community event that city leaders envisioned for downtown when the theater was first announced six years ago. Donating space for the festival is part of the cinema's contract with the city of Orlando for $6 million in incentives.

As the long-awaited theater begins its sixth month of operation, it appears to be meeting the requirements set out by the city, such as hosting the festival, offering affordable parking (the first three hours are $2 for theater patrons) and promoting downtown in its marketing materials.

But has it fulfilled its real mission: to act as a steroid to pump up downtown's sagging retail sector?

There are signs that point to a happy ending after years of drama and plot twists over whether the theater would ever open.

Some retailers are reporting higher sales since the movies started playing. And they say there are more people downtown during historically dead hours, such as Sunday afternoons.

Kim Ellis, director of business development for theater space owner RP Realty Partners, said the 12-screen Plaza cinema is on track to reach the 500,000 customers it was projected to attract each year.

She said the theater draws about 7,000 people each week with higher totals of 10,000 or more during weeks of big movie premieres.

"The critical mass that the theater has brought has helped all of the retailers," Ellis said.

Adam Williams, an operational partner for Urban Flats, said waiting for the theater to open was like an "emotional roller coaster."

Urban Flats was the first tenant to open at the Plaza in June 2007, two years before the theater showed its first film. He said sales have increased year over year and he is bringing in extra staff this week to handle an expected surge in diners because of the film festival.

"Saturdays and Sundays are primarily very slow [during the day]," he said. "The matinees have definitely increased the foot traffic during the slower times."

Kristie Orth opened Volcano's Coffee Bar & Roastery in January 2008. She also waited through a year and a half before the theater opened, building a steady weekday clientele of nearby office dwellers.

Now that the theater is open she is seeing an increase in business, though it hasn't been a magic bullet.

"We are getting more business," she said. "If you ask me if I thought it would be even more, my answer would be yes."

Davon Barbour, assistant director of the city's Downtown Development Board, said reports of increased sales and crowds "are exactly what we wanted to see and hear."

The board recently commissioned a study for $100,000 that evaluated downtown's retail scene and what may work in the future.

The idea is to help long-vacant space such as storefronts on the ground floor of The Vue condominium building or Church Street Station to find the right niche.

Of course, it's too early to write the final scene in this script.

But retailers tend to follow other retailers who are thriving in a market. So the real impact of the theater and surrounding stores could eventually be measured in how easy it is to attract one of the next items on downtown's wish list.

It's not as ritzy as a movie theater with faux-leather seats and two wine bars.

But it's the kind of practical addition that would make living and working downtown easier: A drugstore.